FUTURE OF JOURNALISM

Cal journalism students celebrate hyperlocal launch

Richmond Confidential news site debuts online

13 Nov 2009

Media Workers Guild

Journalism's rebirth takes shape

Some enthusiastic new talent has entered the media fray in the East Bay.

Students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism launched Richmond Confidential, the school's third "hyperlocal" news site, with a reception and pizza party streamed live online from North Gate Hall.

Local politicians offered congratulations along with Cal faculty and Media Workers representatives. We urged the students to make their voices heard as the new world of media takes shape.

The student-run news sites and other Berkeley ventures will be part of the nonprofit media collaboration known as the Bay Area News Project. Guild organizer Carl Hall has been one of the architects of the project, and told the students they have a valuable part to play.

"Students deserve to be respected. We want to make sure you get a rich experience and every chance to learn the craft of journalism," Hall said. "Ive heard some people suggest that students might be exploited as cheap or free labor to help employers eliminate paying jobs, but I can promise you that won't happen. We in the Guild won't allow it, your faculty here won't allow it -- and you (students) won't allow it."

The Richmond Confidential news site -- check it out now  -- is part of a network that already includes similar student-staffed sites in Oakland and San Francisco's Mission District. The sites offer learning journalists a platform for their work, while expanding the reach of existing newsrooms as they grapple with staff reductions.

Both the Bay Area News Group-East Bay and the San Francisco Chronicle offer feature links on their Web sites to the Berkeley hyperlocal sites.

The newly forming Bay Area News Project is a nonprofit collaboration of KQED public broadcasting, the Berkeley journalism school and the Warren Hellman philanthropy. Content from the News Project is expected to fuel an innovative internet news hub starting early next year, as well as expanded local news coverage by KQED in radio and TV formats. The New York Times has agreed to distribute print versions of the News Project's output as part of its growing Bay Area pages.

Faculty of the hyperlocal sites, management of the BANG-East Bay and working members of Guild-covered newsrooms have started collaborating on how to best operate in the new environment. From the Guild's perspective, helping students is part of our dedication to the twin goals of quality jobs and quality journalism.

And judging from the talk Thursday night at North Gate Hall, the students will be eloquent advocates for those goals.